Navratilova, Olivia Set Deal

Martina Navratilova agreed to endorse a travel company for lesbians Thursday, hoping the deal will encourage acceptance of gays.

“Any time you raise awareness, you’re helping the issue,” Navratilova said. “People are uncomfortable with what they don’t know. Once you put a face on it and make it personal, it changes things.”

The only other athlete sponsored by the company, Olivia, is golfer Rosie Jones, who announced her deal a year ago and simultaneously disclosed she’s a lesbian.

Navratilova’s homosexuality was revealed in a newspaper story in 1981, and she acknowledged that many gay athletes remain reluctant to discuss their sexual orientation.

“People still think they will lose endorsements,” she said.

When asked how much endorsement money being gay has cost her, the 49-year-old Navratilova said, “Who cares? It’s millions of dollars, but so what?”

“This is a real dream come true for this company,” Olivia founder Judy Dlugacz said. “How great it is to have someone who can just say, ‘I’m so comfortable being a lesbian, it’s not the main issue I have to work on.’ It’s such a rarity still today.”

San Francisco-based Olivia was founded in 1973 and has focused on travel for the last 15 years, arranging more than 70 cruises.